Letters: JCP&L and PSE&G falling short in Sandy recovery

A crew from Alabama Power works on a hard-hit area of Brick Township on Tuesday.Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger

Mad at JCP&L …

I am a lifelong resident of New Jersey, and my patience and perseverance have run out with Jersey Central Power & Light. Their reporting on power restoration is erroneous and false, assuring customers their power will be restored by a certain day and then extending it.

As I write this, I am approaching my 11th day without power, after being reassured days ago by JCP&L personnel that it would be restored.

I realize Sandy was an event of an unprecedented magnitude for New Jersey, which left many homeless and without power.

But JCP&L was asked by the governor what it needed to restore power as quickly as possible. Apparently, JCP&L did not provide the correct answer.

Please, JCP&L, stop reporting outages are fixed when they are not and ask for more help to restore power to your customers. We cannot live like this in this day and age.
Susan Gibson, Liberty Township

… and PSE&G, too

PSE&G appears to be in need of an emergency response communications system.

Nine days after the storm, when I was still without power, PSE&G couldn’t even answer the special power outage hotline it had set up. I tried repeatedly, sometimes waiting an hour with no answer, getting disconnected numerous times and never reaching a representative. PSE&G should at least be able to answer the phone by now.

My online PSE&G account page says the status of my power outage report is “Power has been restored to your area.” No, it hasn’t. I called the hotline for reporting problems and was promptly disconnected — three times.

This was an unprecedented storm and it takes time to repair things.

But the lack of communication and the level of misinformation are unforgivable. People are stressed from living in the dark and the cold. PSE&G is making matters worse by being the “gang that can’t shoot straight.”